GMC President Unveils Biomass Plan, Campus Improvements
Green Mountain College President Paul J. Fonteyn presented an ambitious program of campus changes during a community meeting held October 22 in Withey Hall. In his first major address since his appointment as president in July, Fonteyn outlined a broad vision for students, faculty, staff and guests from the Poultney community in a speech titled “A Greener View: Sustainability & Regeneration.”

The centerpiece of Fonteyn’s address was the announcement that GMC will construct a biomass heating plant with electric power generation, a move that will bring the College close to its goal of complete carbon neutrality. GMC will finance the $3.6 million project through loans and grants, and plans call for the new biomass facility to begin generating heat and electricity by January of 2010. more...

Read President Paul Fonteyn's speech.View a presentation of improvements.

Author & Writing Instructor to Visit GMC October 30Maralys Wills, author of Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead, visits Green Mountain College on Thursday, October 30. Her talk begins at 7 p.m. in the East Room of Withey Hall.

Wills is the author of twelve books spanning a range of genres including romance novel, thriller and memoir. Her recent memoir, A Circus Without Elephants, was published by Ivy House, and a year later earned a national award from Writer’s Digest. In the spring of 2008, Stephens Press published the sequel, A Clown in the Trunk.

Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead, a book about writing, was published in August 2008. For the past 18 years, Wills has taught novel writing on the college level, and in 2000 was voted “Teacher of the Year.” In addition to frequent speaking engagements at local colleges, she gives writing seminars.

Her visit is sponsored by the GMC English Department.

Feick Opens New Exhibit
from Vermont Artist
Seeing the literal through the practice of repetition is one theme for a new exhibit opening at Green Mountain College’s Feick Fine Arts Center today.

“Between the Lines” features ink on paper and oil on canvas work from Vermont-based artist Cameron Schmitz. The opening reception is Thursday, October 30, from 5 – 7 p.m. The show runs through November 21.

Since earning her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia in 2006, Schmitz has gone on to receive many awards and accolades. In 2007, she was one of three artists from the United States represented in the contemporary international exhibition, “Kigami/Mirrors” in Kyoto, Japan. In 2008 she was included in the Fitchburg Art Museum’s Biannual “New England/New Talent” exhibition, which represented only 13 artists from across New England. Most recently, she was awarded the Board of Directors Award for originality and excellence in the fine arts by Arts Alive in Burlington, Vermont. She continues to exhibit her work in venues across the northeastern United States.

Schmitz describes her work as highlighting the themes of “repetition, tradition, accumulation and memory.” She uses handwritten text as meditations presenting “new ways of seeing the literal through the practice of repetition.”

GMC Quidditch Team Competes at Middlebury
On October 26, a team of Green Mountain College students gathered up their broomsticks and headed to Middlebury College for what has been billed the “first large intercollegiate Quidditch Tournament in history.”

Quidditch, the sport from JK Rowling's Harry Potter books, has become a phenomenon on college campuses across the country since Middlebury created a team in 2005. Last weekend’s tournament drew teams from Princeton, Vassar, Rochester, Louisiana State, University of Washington, McGill, Amherst, University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Chestnut Hill, Carlow, Emerson, and Green Mountain College.

Read a story about the Quidditch tournament in the October 22 Christian Science Monitor.

PANTS Brings Second Annual Sexpo to Campus
The People are Not Their Sex (PANTS) Club will present GMC’s second annual ‘Sexpo’ with a showing of the film "Shortbus" on Thursday, October 30.

The Sexpo will begin at 8 p.m. with the film showing at 9 p.m. in the Gorge of Withey Hall. The first 50 people will be entered into a raffle to receive prizes. Merchandise and other goodies will be on sale, and sex resources and free condoms will be available. Students are invited to bring a blanket and pillow and stay for the film.

Students Help Maintain GMC Section of the Catamount Ski Trail
Aaron Ashton, Deborah DeLuca, Peter Jeffers, Hal Tomasson, Lucas Michel, Monique Couture, Nathan Bell, James Robertson, Stephen Leather, Joseph Grzyb, Ariella Wiener, Michael Koons, and Prof. Thayer Raines (recreation & outdoor studies) rebuilt a ramp way to a bridge and removed logs cut on a switchback trail in Coolidge and Okemo State Forests over the weekend of October 19. A voluntary service project, this was the fourth year GMC students have assisted with maintaining the College’s section of the 300-mile Catamount Ski Trail.

Kurdish Folktales Focus of Next Storyteller Event
Award-winning storyteller Diane Edgecomb comes to Green Mountain College to present almost forgotten folkloric tales of the Kurdish people on November 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Ackley Theatre. Her appearance is the second event in this year's Storyteller Series at GMC.

A master teller, Edgecomb will share legends from her new book A Fire In My Heart: Kurdish Tales. This book includes never before published stories revealing the rich folklore traditions of this ancient Middle Eastern culture and anecdotes of her travels up sheer mountain roads to record the last Kurdish storytellers. The performance resonates with the humor and pathos of Kurdish village life and the colorful people that shared their lives with her. According to Publisher’s Weekly, “Edgecomb is a virtuoso of the spoken word, a storyteller in the grand tradition.”

Two-time winner of the Storytelling World Honor’s Award, Edgecomb’s rich narrative style and humorous outlook make her one of the most sought-after storytellers in the country today.

FACULTY NOTESOn October 15, Prof. Steven Letendre (management & environmental studies) presented at the seventh annual Renewable Energy Vermont Conference. The theme of this year’s conference was "A Bright Future for Vermont’s Renewables." The title of Steven’s presentation was “The Electric Drive Revolution and Sustainable Mobility.” It covered the latest trends in the development of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. The presentation also explored opportunities for renewable forms of energy and vehicle-to-grid applications associated with the electrification of the light vehicle fleet. Five students from Steven's energy & society course also attended the conference.

If you have news, announcements, or events to publicize in the GMC Journal, please e-mail materials to gmcjournal@greenmtn.edu or send through campus mail to the Communications Office, Richardson House. All materials subject to editorial approval by the College Communications Office.